Henry Higgins (1842-1924)

Henry was born on the family farm in Brooklyn, May 17, 1842.[1]  He remembers attending Center Ridge School although it was a distance from their farm and a struggle to attend due to family responsibilities.[2]  As already mentioned, he had a deeply religious experience and miraculous recovery from illness at age nineteen.  He waited until he was thirty-one before marrying.  His future wife, Sarah Gossage, was also born and raised in Brooklyn Township,[3] and was thirteen years younger than Henry.  Sarah’s father, Thomas Gossage, was born in Morgan County Ohio, the same year as Henry’s older Sister Julia.  The Gossage family, like the Higgins family, trekked from Morgan County, Ohio to Brooklyn, Illinois.  Their families were in similar circumstances in Brooklyn financially when Henry and Sarah married although Sarah’s father was the same age of her husband’s siblings and he owned a larger farm and had more horses and cattle than Henry’s father had. 

Henry and Sarah had two sons, Charles Thomas Higgins born in Brooklyn in 1875 and Ira Elva Higgins, also born in Brooklyn in 1883.[4]  Five years into their marriage, Henry and Sarah had settled on their Brooklyn farm with their son Charles.  They had a twelve year old servant girl named Ella Osmas living with them.  Ella could read but not write but she did attended school that year.[5]  That same year Henry’s mother, Sarah, died.  She never met her grandson Ira Higgins, who was the second son of Henry and Sarah. 

By 1900, Henry and Sarah had paid in full their farm mortgage.  Henry’s brother, James, lived with them as well working on the farm with Henry. Their two sons, Charles and Ira, lived at home and helped work the farm as well.[6]  Son, Charles married Orpha Chitwood that year.   Henry and Sarah’s first grandchild, Arthur Ray Higgins, was born the following year in1901.  Artie lived right next door to his grandparents.  

Second son, Ira married Inez Pearl Manlove on April 8, 1903 in Rushville, Illinois.   Inez was the oldest daughter of John J. and Sarah L .T. Manlove.   She was also a descendant of William Manlove, one of the very first Brooklyn pioneers, moving to the area in 1825.[7]  Ira and Inez had 10 children born in the years 1905 – 1929.  They raised their family in Birmingham Township, less than 10 miles away, living in the Manlove family farm originally built by Inez’s grandparents.[8] 

When Henry retired from farming, he and Sarah moved to St Mary’s Township, Hancock, Illinois.  Their nineteen-year-old grandson, Artie, came to live with them while working as a newspaper editor.[9]  Henry passed away January 7, 1924 in Plymouth, Illinois and was buried at the Round Prairie Cemetery, Plymouth, Schuyler, Illinois.  Sarah died February 20, 1931, buried at the Round Prairie Cemetery as well.[10]

The family of Henry Higgins and Sarah W Gossage are:

1.     Charles Thomas Higgins (1875 – 1940)

2.     Ira Elva Higgins (1883 – 1952)

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[1] Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947 “Henry Higgins”, ancestry.com (accessed Jan 4, 2013)

[2]  Dyson, Historical Encyclopedia, 842

[3] Illinois, Death and Stillbirths Index, 1916 – 1947, ancestry.com (accessed June 10, 2013)

[4] 1900 Federal Census Brooklyn, Schuyler, Illinois “Sarah Higgins” ancestry.com (accessed May 16, 2013)

[5] 1880 Federal Census Brooklyn, Schuyler, Illinois “Henry Higgins” ancestry.com (accessed May 16, 2013)

[6] 1900 Federal Census Brooklyn, Schuyler, Illinois “Henry Higgins” ancestry.com (accessed May 16, 2013)

[7] Museum, History of Schuyler, 695

[8] Museum, Schuyler County, 344

[9] 1920 Federal Census Saint Mary, Hancock, Illinois “Henry Higgins”, Ancestry.com (accessed June 8, 2013)

[10] Illinois Find A Grave “Henry Higgins and Sarah Gossage Higgins”, www.findagrave.com (accessed May 15, 2013)